The use of ladder-type equipment to allow a user to reach elevated locations is well known. Generally, the means for reaching elevated objects ranges from inverted buckets, boxes, step-ladders, chairs, scaffolds, and so on. Also available are platforms which are electrically or mechanically extended upward. These means are simply placed in a position near the object of interest. The user then extends, steps on, or climbs up the means.
These means of reaching objects are at times either unsuited for use in the location of interest, or they place the user in an inherently unstable and dangerous position. For example, the user may find himself/herself stepping on the top rung of a ladder or using a box or inverted bucket which may be too short to reach the desired object. Further, the means may be too large for reaching an area only a slight distance above the user's head. The instability and danger to the user may also result from overreaching from a means which offers no stability or an insufficiently large platform from which to work.
There remains a need for a safety platform for changing ceiling light bulbs, painting, etc., which; 1) provides a platform which is sufficiently large to allow the user to move about while working; 2) provides a guard rail at approximately waist height to prevent the user from falling off the safety platform; 3) provides sure footing for the user; 4) folds to allow storage in narrow spaces; or 5) is sufficiently compact to be used in relatively confined areas. The present invention addresses all five requirements by using a four-legged design having a high friction checker plate platform with integral guard-rail.